The US Air Force lifted the veil of secrecy on its previously
classified Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program
(GSSAP), which will operate in conjunction with ground-based
radars and telescopes to observe potential threats from foreign
space objects, General William Shelton said at the Air Force
Association meeting in Orlando on Friday.

The program will also be used for tracking thousands of pieces of
space debris to avoid galactic collisions.

Referring to the satellite tracking system as a "neighborhood
watch program," Shelton said the program "will bolster
our ability to discern when adversaries attempt to avoid
detection and to discover capabilities they may have which might
be harmful to our critical assets at these higher
altitudes."

Currently, the Air Force tracks some 23,000 pieces of orbiting
debris larger than 4 inches (10.6 centimeters) at some 23,000
miles (37,000 km) above the Earth's surface.

However, since the United States already has in orbit a satellite
better positioned to track orbital debris, military experts say
the real purpose for the program is to prevent future attacks on
its satellite network by potential rivals.

"I think the (Obama) Administration is being more honest when
it says that it declassified this program to try and deter
attacks on US satellites," Brian Weeden, technical advisor
with the Washington-based Secure World Foundation, was quoted by
Reuters as saying.

"The US has a lot of very specialized and important national
security satellites in the GEO region and it is very concerned
about protecting those satellites ... so by telling other
countries that it has some ability to closely monitor objects
near GEO and their behavior, the US hopes that will deter other
countries from attacking its important satellites," Weeden
said.

The satellites will also allow the US military to observe what
other countries have in orbit.

"There's nothing wrong with that, but it is exactly the sort
of thing the US is worried other countries will do to it,"
Weeden added.

The pair of satellites are scheduled for launch aboard an
unmanned Delta 4 rocket at the end of 2014.

The price tag and technical details of the satellite program were
not released.